Showing pep for PARP at Parkway

Students at Parkway Elementary School helped to unveil the final four books in the school's Tournament of Books during a Pick a Reading Partner pep rally on March 11.

COURTESY EAST MEADOW SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Parkway Bear mascot was introduced during the school’s PARP pep rally.

COURTESY EAST MEADOW SCHOOL DISTRICT

Students at the East Meadow School District’s Parkway Elementary School gathered on March 11 for a special pep rally to celebrate Pick a Reading Partner, reading achievements and the Tournament of Books.

Principal Jamie Mack opened the ceremony in the school’s all-purpose room by introducing the Parkway Bear, the school’s mascot, to the students to build excitement.

Mack then unveiled the final four of the school’s Tournament of Books. The tournament encouraged the students to read selected books to promote the fun of literacy. The books advancing to the semifinal round are “A Bad Case of Stripes” by David Shannon, “The Book with No Pictures” by B.J. Novak, “The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes” by Gary Rubinstein and Mark Pett and “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt. The four books were read and voted on with two moving on to the final round on March 15.

In addition to celebrating the winning books, Mrs. Mack also announced that the school as a whole read nearly 43,000 hours during the week of March 4-8 alone. A class from each grade was revealed as the current leader in total hours read during the tournament. The overall winners will be announced at the conclusion of the contest with prizes provided by the PTA.

“This was a great celebration of the reading accomplishments and dedication from our students,” said she said.